The Lure of White Oak Lake (18 page)

“I’ll close my eyes then, and you hide,” Jaclyn said almost in a daze. “Run very fast, Morgan.” Jaclyn sighed as she heard Morgan move away. It was so easy to let go and slip under the spell she felt had been cast over her. She didn’t want to think about tomorrow. “I’m opening my eyes,” she called out as she turned.

Morgan popped up immediately and ripped off her shirt. So much for taking it slow, Jaclyn thought as she moved toward her.

“Ants, fucking fire ants,” Morgan said as she danced around, trying to get out of her shoes.

The spell was broken as Jaclyn did what she could to brush them from Morgan’s back. She was stripping so fast, she was nearly a blur. “Be still,” Jaclyn said as Morgan wiggled around.

“Oh, God, they’re in my bra.” That flew, too, and Morgan was stripped down to nothing but her underwear.

Despite being bitten, Jaclyn brushed anywhere she saw one of the small red ants. Morgan’s skin was already blotched and swollen across her stomach and back. Jaclyn pulled out her cell phone and called Betsy. “I need a favor. Can you drive down to Miller’s Bridge and bring rubbing alcohol with you? Morgan’s gotten into fire ants.” Her eyes widened as she got a good look at Morgan. “And a blanket, hurry.” Jaclyn dropped the phone into the back pocket of her jeans and picked up Morgan’s shoes. “We have to get you home. You have a lot of bites.” She banged the sneakers together, but ants still swarmed over them.

Morgan raised her arm and swept a few out of her armpit. “I’m on fire.”

“I know, sweetie.” Jaclyn kicked out of her shoes. “Slip your feet into my sneakers.”

It was obvious Morgan was in pain as she asked, “Why?”

“You don’t need any more bites, just do it.” Jaclyn stripped down to her tank top and draped her shirt over Morgan’s shoulders. “Leave your clothes, we’ll get them later.” She watched Morgan as they walked briskly toward the bridge. Jaclyn’s socks helped a little to protect her feet, but once they got onto the gravel of the road, she moved slower than she wanted to. “Does your throat feel like it’s swelling?”

“No, I’m breathing like this because I hurt, and I’m near about naked. I just had it in my mind it would go differently when I took my clothes off in front of you.”

Betsy crossed the bridge and brought her car to a stop as she drew near to the pair. Clarice got out of the passenger’s side. She took one look at Morgan and shook her head. “No home remedies, she needs a doctor. Girl, did you roll in them?”

“Well, kind of.” Morgan’s breath came out in a hiss when Betsy doused her with the rubbing alcohol. “I’ve never had anything feel so bad and so good at the same time.”

“Let’s get her in the car,” Jaclyn said as she began leading Morgan. “I’m afraid this is going to make you sick at the very least.” Betsy forgot the blanket, but she did have a raincoat in the trunk. Once Morgan was situated in the backseat, Jaclyn draped it over her. “How’s your throat?” she asked nervously. Morgan rocked back and forth, her face a mask of pain.

“Fine, I feel a little queasy, though.”

“Betsy, get this barge movin’,” Clarice said as Betsy turned the car around. She looked into the backseat of the Buick and shoved her glasses higher on her nose with her middle finger and took a good look at Morgan. “Could’ve been worse if you had your clothes on. They get all up in the material and bite before you can get them off.”

“She was clothed,” Jaclyn said coolly.

“Pity,” Clarice said as she turned around. “The gas pedal is the long slender thing on the right, Betsy, push it hard.”

M
organ behaved much better in the ER than Maddie. The injection she received put her out like a light. It took Jaclyn, Skip, and Austin to get her out of Betsy’s car later that evening. One day when the shock and worry wore off, Jaclyn figured she’d think back on the image of Morgan wearing nothing more than a raincoat over a hospital gown and laugh. But at the moment, she was more worried about how Morgan was going to feel when she woke up.

Once they got her onto the porch, Skip scooped her up into his arms and carried her inside. “Take her into the guest room,” Jaclyn said, “I don’t want you to risk falling on the stairs.”

“Oh,
cher
, you got a lot of faith in me. She ain’t that heavy, but she’s deadweight, I couldn’t make it up two steps.” Austin opened the door, and Skip brought her into the room and laid her on the bed after Jaclyn turned the covers down. Skip shook his head as he looked at Morgan. “They got me once when I was changing the oil on my truck. Before I knew it, I was covered. I danced one hell of a jig, then puked.”

Everyone gathered in the room and stared at Morgan, who was completely down for the count. “I’m gonna mix up a paste tomorrow to rub on the bites, it’ll help with the itch.” Clarice winked at Jaclyn. “If she needs something sooner for pain, you let me know.”

From the way Betsy looked, Jaclyn was afraid to ask what Clarice had to offer.

Austin picked up Morgan’s hand and let it drop on the bed. She didn’t flinch. “What did they give her?”

“Dr. Bennett described it as an amped-up Benedryl,” Jaclyn said.

Skip nodded. “He gave me the same thing after Rene insisted that I go to the hospital, but it didn’t do me like that. I was droopy but not knocked out.”

“You were singing John Denver songs,” Jaclyn said with a roll of her eyes. “I had to help your wife get
you
out of the car that day. You kept singing the chorus to ‘Rocky Mountain High.’”

“It’s a good song, Jac. I should’ve charged for that concert. I don’t sing for just anybody.”

“We should go.” Betsy gave Austin a hug. “I’m sorry that you’re not feeling well, either. Jaclyn, do you need me to stay and help take care of them?”

“No, but thank you. Austin will be going to bed soon, and Morgan’s already down for the night. I think I can manage them both. I’ll call if I need help, though.”

Skip looked as though he wanted to make a joke about Morgan’s attire but seemed to change his mind as he glanced at Austin. “You can call me, too, and I’ll send Rene over.”

“Out.” Jaclyn gave him a playful shove. She wrapped an arm around Betsy as she walked them to the door. “Thank you and you, too, Clarice, for coming to our rescue so fast.”

“Please tell Morgan we’ll be thinking about her,” Betsy said quickly when Clarice opened her mouth to speak. “Good night.”

Jaclyn watched them all go and closed the door. She ran a hand over Austin’s cheek. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better, and I took my medicine already. I’m reading your mind,” he said as he put his fingers in her hair. “Go to bed, Austin.”

Jaclyn giggled and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re so good.”

~~~

“…all I’m sayin’ is Morgan might need to see a few hibiscus flowers. She’s gonna feel like she has the chicken pox tomorrow.”

“No, I know Jaclyn wouldn’t be comfortable with that, and, Clarice, whatever paste you’re gonna mix up better not have marijuana in it,” Betsy said as she stopped at Clarice’s driveway.

“I’d never waste my Hawaiian on a paste. Brownies maybe, but not paste.”

~~~

Jaclyn managed to get Morgan out of the raincoat but left the gown the hospital supplied her with. The places where Morgan had been bit on her arms and legs had swollen into angry-looking knots. Morgan seemed so out of it that Jaclyn stood quietly watching her chest rise and fall before she left the room for a quick shower. Morgan hadn’t moved when she returned. Jaclyn climbed in beside her and toyed with her hair. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“I had a great time,” Morgan mumbled, “until the ants. Am I still naked?”

“No,” Jaclyn said with a grin.

“Are you?” she asked as she opened one eye.

“No, T-shirt and shorts, you aren’t missing anything.”

Morgan closed her eye and smiled. “That’s your opinion.”

Jaclyn kissed her on the forehead. “Go to sleep. I’ll be right here.”

Morgan smiled again, then her face relaxed as she drifted off.

~~~

“Don’t scratch,” Jaclyn said as she pointed at Morgan. “Austin, eat your breakfast, so you can take your medicine.” Austin and Morgan stared up at her with grumpy faces where they sat on the couch in front of TV trays. Chet had kindly agreed to handle the store for Jaclyn, and as she watched the two poke at their food, she felt she might’ve gotten the short end of the stick.

Morgan looked like a little kid in Jaclyn’s shorts and one of Austin’s big T-shirts. “I’m going to run down to your cabin and get some of your clothes, so you’ll be more comfortable. Is there anything else you want me to get while I’m there?”

Morgan squirmed. “The wire brush hanging off the grill in back.”

“I’ll be right back, and, Austin, don’t let her scratch.”

When Morgan heard the door close she looked at Austin. “Did you ever have the chicken pox?”

Austin looked back toward the kitchen. “Okay, you can scratch, but do it lightly.”

This was one time Morgan wished she had long fingernails, the kind that stuck an inch past the finger. She ran what she did have over her arms and legs. “Scratch my back, bud.” She nearly purred as Austin did as she asked. “First, they burn like fire, then they itch. Tomorrow, I’m going to Maddie’s store, and I’m buying all the ant poison I can get my hands on. I wonder if she has a flame thrower.”

Austin stopped scratching when he heard a knock on the back door. “Be right back.”

Morgan could hear Clarice’s sing-song voice in the kitchen. Seconds later, she wafted into the room carrying a bag with Betsy following behind her.

“Austin, do me a favor, dear, and put on water for tea,” Clarice said with a smile as she adjusted her glasses.

“He’s sick,” Betsy protested. “Honey, you sit down. I’ll take care of the water.”

“I mixed up some paste that’s gonna take the itch out. It doesn’t smell all that good, but it’ll help, I assure you.” Morgan’s eyes widened when Clarice produced a Mason jar. The paste looked like mud. “Can’t put this in plastic, it’ll explode.”

“I…uh…don’t know if I should mix that with the calamine lotion Jaclyn already gave me.” Morgan eyed the jar and wondered what the hell was in it.

The concoction smelled vile when Clarice cracked the seal on the jar. “Won’t hurt none. Stick your finger down in that jar and spread it on a couple of bites. You’ll see what I’m talkin’ about.”

Morgan didn’t want to appear rude, and she was a little desperate. She dipped her finger and spread a little on her arm.

“That ain’t enough. Here, let me show you.” Clarice jammed two fingers into the jar; it made a sucking sound when she pulled them out. Morgan wrinkled her nose as Clarice smeared her arm with the paste.

Austin put his hands over his face. “Man, it smells like a cat fart, and I haven’t smelled anything in days.”

Morgan silently agreed, but the really unfortunate part was that the itch and burn went away immediately, and she couldn’t decide which was worse—itching or stinking.

“Jumpin’ junipers,” Betsy said as she walked back into the room. “Is that odor coming from that paste?”

“You’ll get used to it.” Clarice continued to slather Morgan’s arm with it.

Betsy put her finger beneath her nose. “Morgan, how are you, honey?”

“At the moment, I’m not sure.”

Clarice went to work on Morgan’s left arm. “Child, I know you grew up in Baton Rouge. Surely, you know what an anthill looks like.”

“I didn’t see the anthill until they were all over me. I laid next to it, and I guess the ants were already out. Maybe I disturbed it when I was looking for a place to hide.”

Clarice stopped what she was doing and looked at Morgan in question.

“We were playing hide-and-seek in the goldenrod,” Morgan admitted lowly. Austin snorted, and Betsy giggled.

Clarice frowned at both of them. “I like the goldenrod field myself, and sometimes I just take off all—”

Betsy cleared her throat loudly. “Jaclyn’s played in that field all her life. She used to bring me bouquets. Oh, she was such a doll in her little cutoffs and bare feet, and she had such a lisp when she lost her front teeth. Do you remember that, Clarice?”

“Yeah,” she answered with a smile.

Jaclyn came in through the back door. “Good morning, ladies, how’re— Whoa, what is that smell?”

“Morgan,” Austin said with a laugh.

“I made a paste to take the itch out and stop the swelling,” Clarice explained.

“Well, we’ll get used to it,” Jaclyn said cheerfully as she set Morgan’s clothes on a chair.

Clarice motioned at Jaclyn. “Come here, girl. I noticed bites on your hands and arms yesterday, too.”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing, really.”

Morgan looked over her shoulder with her eyes watering from the stench. “Oh, yes, it is, Come sit down and share in the joy.”

“You have a lot of bites,” Jaclyn argued, “we should conserve the paste.”

“Don’t take that long to make. If we need more, I’ll whip it up.” Clarice motioned again with her brown-stained fingers, and Jaclyn unwillingly gave in.

Morgan looked at Jaclyn’s wrist as Clarice took her hand. “You’ve been scratching!” She began clawing at the bites on her lower back.

“Stop that.” Clarice stuck one of her stinky fingers in Morgan’s face, and all movement ceased as Morgan’s eyes crossed from the funk. “When I finish with Jaclyn, I’ll take care of the ones on your back.”

“I’ll do it. I think y’all saw enough of me yesterday.”

“Or Jaclyn could do it,” Betsy offered.

Clarice looked at Betsy. “That water’s boiling. Why don’t you make up the tea?”

“Sure.”

Austin fanned his face. “I’ll help.”

“Don’t drink it, boy. It’s for the women,” Clarice warned.

“Tea might do him some good.”

Clarice raised a brow as she regarded Morgan. “He’s…already sick, it’s to keep y’all from getting what he has.” Clarice nodded and said, “yeah,” as though she came up with the excuse on the fly.

“I think I’m covered pretty well.” Jaclyn looked a shade of green when she pulled her hand away from Clarice. “How long will we have to keep it on?”

“Best if it’s all day, but you can wash after a couple of hours.”

“Great.” Jaclyn tried to smile.